Lovers of the World Unite

Lovers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your inhibitions. This could well be the rallying cry of Clinton and Hallmark, Thorntons and Interflora or even Marks and Spencer for the next frantic four days. With Christmas but a distant memory, retailers need a boost to their coffers, especially when the feasting of Easter has to wait until late April this year.
Right on cue, along comes Valentine’s Day and the opportunity to pledge undying love to Mr or Miss Right, with only a little help from the cash card companies. “Hang the expense” seems to be the thinking behind the giving for those that want to pledge their passion – and yet tradition dictates it should all be done anonymously. Not very practical though if you fancy spending a hundred thousand on a night of sweet nothings between yourselves at the Oxo tower, as went on offer this week to London lovers.
This year though, however much is spent, sweethearts and passion-seekers will need to remember their number in a little red book, albeit a well-disguised one. Unforgettable Valentine’s Day has been chosen by the money industry to get normally reticent Britons to wear not just a heart on their sleeve but a PIN. On that date, at least nominally, signatures become a thing of the past as four little numbers hidden in a tiny piece of metal secure the price of love. Woe betide any man or woman who forgets their digits!
It’s just as well then that the numbers that matter to God are things like the number of hairs on our head, every one of which is counted. He could never consign our secret details to the back of a diary or some other anonymous place, and actually he already knows every one, such is the unique identity of his love. In fact, his love was demonstrated in flowers of mourning turned to dancing, in nails rather than PINs. Or, as Charitie L Brooks, an aptly-named Irish hymn writer, put it in the nineteenth century
A great high priest whose name is love
My name is graven on his hands
My name is written on his heart
My life is hid with Christ on high
With Christ my saviour and my God
That kind of love will never be forgotten by numberless Christians, whatever the date.